She is pretty nice, good looking, from a nice family, does well in school, etc, but behind the walls of her glass house is a family that is struggling. Although it wasn't my favorite of her books, I still found it entertaining and Dessen balanced serious issues with some lighthearted moments very well.Īnnabel is the type of all-American girl that could live next door to you. Sarah Dessen's Just Listen is an enjoyable novel that made me think, laugh, and cry. One thing is for sure: Annabel's junior year is going to be an interesting one. That is until she meets Owen at lunch who also is a bit of a loner and they bond over his love for eccentric music. In fact, Sophie has become a bit of a bully at school and Annabel is feeling even more isolated. Meanwhile, Annabel is your average high school student except she starts off her junior year without Sophie, her best friend, who won't speak to her due to a fight they had over summer break. While Kirsten and Whitney are living in the big city, Whitney suffers from anorexia and Kirsten tries to warn her parents how serious of an issue this is for Whitney, but their mother sort of brushes it off and makes excuses. Her older sister, Kirsten, has moved to New York City and the middle sister, Whitney, has also followed Kirsten in order to pursue her modeling career further. Annabel is the youngest in the family and spends her free time modeling even though her heart isn't in it after all, she doesn't want to disappoint her mother.

With Owen's help, maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.' Annabel and her two sisters are models and are known in their suburban town for their good looks, along with living in a glass house designed by their architect father.

Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling. This year, she's the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Goodreads says, ' Last year, Annabel was 'the girl who has everything' - at least that's the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf's Department Store.

Just listen sarah dessen characters